The Last Night
by ModernArt2012
Summary: The aftermath of Ashley, Hotsuma makes good on his promise to Shuusei. Mostly fluff, an extrapolation on cannon. Not lemon or lime.


**A/N: Hello everyone! This is Modernart2012, writing a piece for UraBoku. Unfortunately, I am not completely up-to-date with the series – yay, the problems of being able to only read and write European languages! However, I shall try to overcome my issues by giving in to the need to write fan pieces for our favorite Zweilt Guardians! This piece here is Hotsuma X Shuusei – the fan girl in me is screaming in glee. The song I was thinking of while writing this piece was Skillet's "The Last Night," which was the piece to give me inspiration to write what you're about to read. I highly suggest that you listen to it, it's really good and not at all what you're imagining – it's really romantic. This is set in the days after Ashley and after Hotsuma and Shuusei come to an understanding.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the plot. **

* * *

As Shuusei hung in the thorny vines, he felt the agony burning in the scar tissue across his chest and shoulders. And he remembered how exactly he got those burns, the puckered scar tissue. The singe of flames as he held onto Hotsuma. _Don't leave me alone in this life!_ He was so tired now, so tired and in so much pain. _Let me leave this life_! He hoped Hotsuma would forgive him; his heart beat its final.

Hotsuma prayed that he'd get there in time, that he would find his other half. That he'd get to beat the Durast into a pulp. Shuusei was his, the part he couldn't survive without. And he was fully prepared to use a power he couldn't control to keep Shuusei by his side. _Live! … for me?_

* * *

He couldn't believe that Shuusei thought he would leave him for Yuki, that just because he didn't hate himself anymore that he would forget the soul that was an intrinsic part of his identity. His harbor when things were terrible, his lifeline, _his life._ He had paid a great and terrible price to learn that, how could Shuusei even come up with such a thought? Hotsuma swore to himself, _on our lifetimes together_, that he would never let Shuusei ever think that he was unnecessary ever again.

Shuusei stared into the mirror, staring at his scars. _Ugly ,what a price to pay._ Hotsuma, whose parents had only birthed him for the money they stood to gain; Hotsuma, who would not be alive today without him, who had admitted, in his own way, that he could not survive without him. They may not be like Tsukumo, with the power to read minds, but millennia had laid bare their essences to each other – words weren't always necessary to make their minds known. _You are cherished, you are valuable and valued, you are my sun and moon and my everything. You are my life –please don't ever leave me._

* * *

Shuusei didn't sleep much. It wasn't his way. He tried to get ahead in school work, keep up with the crimes he may be asked to help the police with. With the time that was lost to Zweilt duties, there was never time to sleep. And he generally kept to his own room, after 11 pm no one ever bothered him. So he was not expecting his bedroom to be invaded when he came back from bathing. His partner was lounging on his bed, and Shuusei had to wonder at how perfect he looked there. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you." Hotsuma, though younger than him, looked like a predator, half closed eyes watching hungrily. Even the way he unfurled from the bed was like Luka, all predators' grace. "Come to bed."

"I still have homework to do." He turned away towards his laptop. Instead he felt long, muscled limbs twine around his torso, pinning him between the lean body of his partner and the wall.

Breath tickled the back of his neck as Hotsuma spoke, "I did it already." A golden mane nestled in the curve of where neck met shoulder, "Come to bed, Shuusei." _I won't go to sleep without you._ His voice felt like a purr, rumbling around his chest over and over again.

"Why?" shuusei untangled his limbs from Hotsuma's, "I don't sleep much anyways, it would be pointless to sleep now." He threw his towel in the laundry hamper, then felt himself get thrown over Hotsuma's shoulder. He sighed, there was no arguing with Hotsuma when he got like this.

* * *

Almost every member of the Giou Clan knew and understood the bonds of partnership between Zweilt. How it was a deeper connection than a physical or emotional bond that lasted a single lifetime. Spouses knew that if the choice came, Zweilts would choose their partner over them, unless of course they were one and the same. They had been like that more than once, which was strange to Shuusei. How many other Zweilts had the same understanding? It was a simple fact of their existence.

Shuusei tangled a hand in his partner's hair. Silky soft, like a golden mane running liquid through his fingers. From where he was curled around Shuusei, Hotsuma watched with guarded eyes – open, careful, watching – how much damage his parents had inflicted, the simplest gesture always second guessed, _looking in the mirror and seeing a monster_. He cleared his throat, "What are you doing?"

"I told you I would never take my eyes off those scars until I no longer see them consuming you, I see you and only you. Until you believe that I am no longer disgusted by myself or react painfully at seeing those scars. I swore." Normally deft fingers fumbled at the buttons to his pyjama top, finally just ripping the two sides apart. His face was mere inches from the top of Shuusei's shoulder, bent over but his face clearly full of grief and pain and anger. _ What a monster I am._ Trembling hands brushed over the ridged and puckered tissue. It felt like the careful touch of a butterfly, a lover's touch. And suddenly, it was like a dam had broken, "Shuusei."

"Hmmm?"

"You know I can only work with someone I can trust with my life. In all our millennia, that person has only ever been you. All I need is you. And," The head rested over his heart, "You, too, have trusted me with your life. Enough to tell you that I won't let you leave me, I won't ever stop needing you, not in this life or the next. And I won't leave you, not unless you tell me to – it would break me, but I'd do it." Arms twined wrapped around his, a cocoon of flesh. Shuusei knew that this was from Hotsuma's hidden heart, that these feelings only existed for him and him alone. He tangled his arms into the mix, pale limb to pale limb embracing. _I hear you, I feel you, I understand and I know. I remember our lies, how we broke down our bond lying to protect the other. _ Hotsuma tilted his head to look Shuusei in the eye, "I want you to know that last night was the last night you spent alone. From now until the last breath I take, you will have to contend with me." Shuusei felt the rumble of Hotsuma's voice, reverberating through Hotsuma's chest and into his own. _This I swear, may all the gods witness._ Here was Hotsuma's deeply buried innocence, his most heartfelt desire. Shuusei closed his eyes, touched; he felt Hotsuma slide up so that he now cradled Shuusei against his body, both bodies curled towards the other. "Sleep mirror of my soul." Listening to the steady breaths and beaths, Shuusei slipped off into a peaceful sleep, for once not plagued by night mares.

_ I have found my soul's mirror. I __**know**__ you, I see you, no matter if I am blind or lost or halfway across the world. And everything I see, I treasure._

_ I am your reflection. I know you as you are meant to be known. I __**see**__ you. And everything I see I value. You are, and always be, my only light._

* * *

Omake: 

"What are you going to do if I get married?"

"Hmmmm?" Hotsuma wasn't fully awake, still groggy in the morning light.

"What are you going to do if I get married? You certainly won't be sleeping with me then." Shuusei was playing with fire, Hotsuma would not take it well. He turned back to face his younger half, lagging behind by a few feet.

A dark possessive glint gleamed in Hotsuma's eye, "Well, I'll just have to make sure that you don't then." Fast as lightning, Shuusei felt soft lips meet his own, then disappear. Hotsuma stayed crouched over, bag over shoulder, grinningly slyly. "We were married once, 'until death' isn't what either of us vowed – '_in this life and all those here after._' I still have dibs." Hotsuma continued on past the stunned older boy, nonchalant.

Shuusei recovered quickly, "You mean prior claim!"

"So you do recognize that I have dibs!"

"Of course _baka!_ I swore the same vows didn't I?" He pulled a piece of toast out of his bag, then stuffed it into Hotsuma's opening mouth. "Plus, who else will put up with you for so long?" He stepped around the chewing Hotsuma, chuckling, pausing at the gate.

"Then what did you mean by asking about marriage!" And like that Hotsuma blustered and Shuusei was his usual calm self as they entered the school.

* * *

**A/N: The End! I couldn't help myself, I had to put in a cute fluffy omake, especially after the manga's omakes! Oh my, what I would give to see a past Shuusei and Hotsuma get married! Hopefully, you enjoyed this piece. Review if you feel like it, don't if you don't want to. But if you review, feel free to be constructive or tell me it sucked! I want to know how to improve myself as a writer, so please don't worry about hurting my feelings! **

**ModernArt2012**


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